Stratford Mill (Constable)

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Stratford Mill
Constable, Stratford Mill.jpg
Artist John Constable
Year1820
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions127 cm× 182.9 cm(50 in× 72.0 in)
Location National Gallery, London

Stratford Mill is an 1820 oil on canvas painting by the British landscape artist John Constable. It is the second painting in the series of six-footers depicting working scenes on the River Stour, a series that includes The Hay Wain . [1] The painting is now in the collection of the National Gallery in London. [1]

Contents

Description

The scene is Stratford St. Mary about two miles west of East Bergholt. [2] Stratford Mill was a water-powered paper mill, located on a small island just outside the village, [1] it can be seen on the far left of the picture. Constable made a sketch of children fishing by the mill in 1811 now known as Anglers at Stratford Mill (private collection), [1] but this view extends to display more of the river, a barge and the meadow across the way.

History

After the success of his first 'six-footer' The White Horse , Constable abandoned plans to paint his large canvas The Opening of Waterloo Bridge seen from Whitehall Stairs, 18 June 1817, in favour of submitting a second Stour series painting. [3] Stratford Mill was exhibited at the Royal Academy exhibition in 1820 and was a success. The Examiner described it as having ‘a more exact look of nature than any picture we have ever seen by an Englishman’. [3] It acquired a buyer in the loyal John Fisher, [4] who purchased the painting for 100 Guineas, a price he himself thought too low. [5] He gifted the painting to his solicitor and friend John Pern Tinney. [3] Tinney loved the painting and offered Constable another 100 Guineas to paint a companion picture, Constable declined. [3] In the years to follow Tinney would have to put up with numerous requests from Constable to borrow back his prized possession for rework and exhibitions. [1] After Tinney's death David Lucas produced a mezzotint, which was published in 1840 under the name ‘The Young Waltonians’ in reference to the Izaak Walton book, The Compleat Angler . [1]

The full size oil sketch is held by the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven. [6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "John Constable | Stratford Mill | NG6510 | National Gallery, London". www.nationalgallery.org.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  2. Beckett 1962 , p. 52
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bailey 2007 , p. 116
  4. Johnson 1991 , p. 614
  5. Leslie 1845 , p. 83
  6. "Stratford Mill - YCBA Collections Search". collections.britishart.yale.edu. Retrieved 28 November 2023.

Bibliography